After planting, cut the shoots down to leave about 2 buds above ground level. This will encourage a strong root system to develop. Do not cut away any shoots the following winter.

In the third or fourth winter, cut some of the old wood out of the bush and any crossing or crowded shoots, to make room for new shoots the following year. As a general rule, it is best to cut out a third of the old wood each year, making the cut as close to the soil level as possible.

Currants are self-pollinating.

Keep the bushes well watered especially the first year, and mulching is beneficial.

Crandall blossoms

Jostaberry blossom

Chernaya Lisovenko autumn transplants

HARVESTING NOTES
We don't have a video yet of harvesting currants or gooseberries with our ATRAX harvester, but the shake and drop method works well on them as it does with haskap/honeyberries, as long as you let the fruit ripen long enough so that it can be shaken off.

All Ribes varieties listed below typiocally grow 3-6' tall. Plants below may be shipped either as "plugs" - i.e. 2.5" - 3" wide in a peat "plug", which transplants very nicely, or bare root, with XL/XXL indicating a 2-4 year old bare root plant. We normally prune back a lot of the top growth so the new bare root plant puts more energy into getting its roots re-established. Some plants we grow ourselves, others we bring in from other propagators. Please Contact us for wholesale pricing for > 20 plants/variety.

BLACK CURRANTS

Ribes nigrum Ben series of black currants from the Mylnefield Research Station in Scotland, estimated to account for 50% of global production.

Ben Connan
This is an early variety of black currant with large, deep black berries that was released by Mylnefield specifically for the fresh market. It is high yielding and shows even and uniform ripening. It has large, deep black berries with a pleasant acid/sweet flavour. Of medium size, its compact growth habit makes it suitable for both mechanical fruit harvesting, u-pick farms and the home garden market. Great for fresh eating, jams, preserves, canning but needs to be harvested good and ripe for best sweetness. Not as juicy as the other varieties. Ben Connan is a cross between Ben Sarek and Ben Lomond, yielding 187 Connan berries per 250 grams fruit vs. 206 smaller Lomond berries. Ben Connan yields 16,683.8 vs. 14,810 pounds per acre for Ben Lomond)

Ben Connan Black Currant 4"-1' tall

Ben Hope
Ben Hope is widely planted commercially in Britain for several reasons. It is a tall, vigorous and upright plant with genetic resistance to black currant gall mite. Fruit is easy to mechanically harvest since the plant is taller and the fruit is at the right height on the plant. Yields are consistently high with medium sized currants (1 g) that are good for juicing. It has good resistance to both mildew and leaf spot. Ben Hope is also suited for the fresh market because of its larger berries and good flavour. Low winter chill requirements, ripens in mid-season.